Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The Postcard Challenge

"On The First Day Of Christmas"
4" x 6"
ColorfulArtGirl from California has begun a monthly postcard challenge through her blog; she wrote to tell me about it when she read about my own personal postcard journey.  I love the idea of having a prompt to jumpstart the creativity, so here goes:
The Inspiration Words for January were “bird” and “yellow” – and my mind immediately went to A Partridge in a Pear Tree (it was still close to Christmas, you see . . .).  Long ago, I had purchased a fabulous book titled “Appliqué Art,” by Stewart Merrett; in it, this incredibly talented artist demonstrates how he has transformed silks and velvets into quilted masterpieces.  I immediately began collecting all sorts of specialty fabrics, including velvets, satins, and upholstery silks, and I planned to try every project in his book.
I adapted one of his designs for a pear and added my own tiny partridge to the composition.  She seemed to need some ornamentation when I was finished, so I added a feathered crown (I’m fairly certain that partridges don’t really look like this, so I ask your indulgence).  The materials are velvets and suedes, and the picture doesn’t really do them justice – the piece glistens as you view it from different angles.  The satin stitching (yes, I abandoned my usual flat zigzag stitch) is done with 40-weight rayon thread to add to the sheen.
 This was a lot of fun –  I can’t wait to try it again.  Be sure to visit here if you'd like to join in the challenge.
Diane

11 comments:

Deborah said...

Lovely and touchable. When you click to enlarge it you can see how soft it looks.

Terri Stegmiller said...

Very cute! And yes it does look quite inviting for a touch.

Tangled Stitch said...

It's lovely Diane! Just wonderful. Sounds like a great idea too!

Victoria said...

Very sweet... put a smile right on my face!

Leah said...

this is absolutely wonderful! what interesting fabrics. the colors are so vibrant and i especially love how you did the 'shading' on the leaves and the bottom of the pear. and I think it does look like a dove ! =)

Leah said...

ps I love that you put some background on how you got into using those fabrics

Connie said...

Oh it's so pretty! I love it. Artistic license is yours to take. That's what makes your card special.

Quilt Rat said...

LOVE this card!...the textures of all those different fabrics really adds dimension to this piece.
I can absolutely "feel" that pear leaf.

imquilternity said...

How fun to find a new way to do postcards. I love velvets and silks and all the lovely textured fabrics that are usually not used for quilting. What a wonderful way to be able to use them. Your postcard is just beautiful!

Unknown said...

Nice work! Thanks for the info about Stewart Merrett, I haven't heard of his work/books before.

Tracey said...

This is one of those pieces you really want to touch! It looks so plush!.

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